Inside the range
Inside the published range does not mean everything is fine, and outside it does not mean anything is wrong. A single day cannot show a pattern, and individual sleep needs vary.
Baby sleep toolkit
Six sleep tools, one question each.
Sleep is the most-written-about topic on this site and the hardest to think about at 3 a.m. This page starts with the one number nobody ever adds up — the full 24-hour total — then routes you to the tool that answers whatever you are actually holding right now.
FreeNo accountNothing uploadedSourced ranges
Do the hours actually add up?
Total the night stretches and the naps from one full day. The checker reports the 24-hour total, how it splits between night and day, and whether it sits inside the published AASM range for the age band — then says plainly when no published recommendation exists.
1. Pick the age band
The published range changes with age, and for babies under 4 months there is no published range to compare against. The checker will tell you that instead of guessing one.
2. Night sleep
Each stretch from going down to getting up. A stretch that crosses midnight is fine — enter the clock times as they happened.
3. Daytime naps
Every nap in the same 24-hour day. Leave a row empty if you did not use it.
Every figure on this page, and where it came from.
Nothing here is rounded into a stronger claim than the source makes. Where there is no published recommendation, this page says so rather than inventing one.
| Figure | What the source says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Where the ranges come from | The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) publishes recommended sleep amounts by age, and the American Academy of Pediatrics endorses those guidelines. | AAP HealthyChildren; AASM |
| 4 to 12 months | 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours, including naps | AASM via AAP HealthyChildren |
| 1 to 2 years | 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours, including naps | AASM via AAP HealthyChildren |
| 3 to 5 years | 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours, including naps | AASM via AAP HealthyChildren |
| Newborns (under 4 months) | No AASM recommendation exists for this age, because data is limited and sleep varies widely. Newborns are commonly described as sleeping about 16 to 17 hours a day in 1- to 2-hour stretches, or anywhere from 11 to 19 hours. | AAP HealthyChildren; Sleep Foundation |
| Why there is no newborn target | “Babies do not have regular sleep cycles until about 4 months of age.” | AAP HealthyChildren |
| Naps at this age | Newborn naps commonly run 1 to 4 hours each. Most babies still need daily naps until their first birthday. | Sleep Foundation |
| Safe sleep position | On the back for every sleep until 1 year old — not on the side or stomach, not even for a nap | NICHD Safe to Sleep® / AAP Task Force on SIDS |
| What never changes with a bad week | No soft bedding, stop swaddling once a baby starts rolling over, no sitting or carrying devices for regular sleep, and no product can prevent SIDS. | NICHD Safe to Sleep® / AAP |
The rest of the sleep cluster.
Six tools, one question each. Start with whichever one matches tonight.
What should I be writing down?
Sleep tracker for dads
The daily record: what to log, what is worth logging, and what to ignore.
Safety firstSafe sleep for dads
The eight safe-sleep rules the AAP and the Lullaby Trust agree on, quoted from both - then the four places their published guidance does not agree: two room-temperature ranges that meet at exactly one point, a six-month window in the room-sharing advice, two swaddling answers in one meta-analysis, and a sofa risk multiplier measured against a different baseline.
When is the next nap?Wake window calculator
Age and last wake time in, next nap window out.
Do the hours actually add up?24-hour sleep total checker
Add night stretches and naps into one day total and put it next to the published range.
Why is it waking every hour?4-month sleep regression for dads
Measure the gaps between wakings and compare them to the published sleep-cycle length.
Who is awake at 3 a.m.?Newborn night shift schedule
Split the overnight hours so nobody negotiates duties while half-conscious.
Evening cryingWitching hour crying for dads
The late-afternoon and evening crying cluster, the four published answers for when it peaks, and a free age-indexed checker that reports the published fuss/cry band for your baby's age.
How do the pieces fit a day?Newborn schedule app for dads
The daily rhythm treated as a handoff system rather than a rulebook.
A day total is a question, not a verdict.
Outside the range
The checker says “outside the published range — worth raising with your care team”. It never says too little or too much, because it cannot know that.
Under 4 months
No published range exists, so there is nothing to compare against. The checker reports the total and the wide normal spread instead of scoring it.
What a total cannot see
Weight gain, feeding, diaper output, breathing, and how the baby behaves awake are the things a clinician looks at. None of them are on this page, which is why it routes concerns rather than answering them.
Who slept is missing
A total says nothing about which caregiver covered which hours. That is why the night shift planner exists, and why Dad Recovery is a feature rather than an afterthought.
When to call instead
Poor feeding, fewer wet diapers, unusual breathing, fever, or anything that feels wrong is a call to your pediatrician or emergency services — not a spreadsheet.
Safety note: these tools do arithmetic on the times you enter, and they organize what you already know. They do not diagnose, do not assess development, do not recommend sleep training or any treatment, and cannot tell you why a baby is waking. The published safe-sleep rules do not change because a week went badly: place babies on their back for every sleep until 1 year old, keep soft bedding and sitting devices out of the sleep space, stop swaddling once a baby starts rolling, and remember that no product can prevent SIDS. Do not delay professional or emergency care to use a tool. Individual sleep needs vary — follow the child's qualified care team.
Printable 24-hour sleep sheet.
Print one per day. A week of totals is far more useful to a clinician than any single night, and it costs you ten seconds at each handoff.
Baby's age / date_______________________________________________
Night stretches (start → end, hours)______________ ______________ ______________
Naps______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
Total for the 24 hours______ hrs compared with the published range for this age: ____________
| Waking time | How long awake | How settled back | What helped | Who handled it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Questions for the pediatrician______________________________________________________________________________________________
Sources and further reading
Every figure on this page is restated from these references. The child's qualified care team supplies medical guidance.
- AAP HealthyChildren: Healthy Sleep Habits — How Many Hours Does Your Child Need?
- American Academy of Sleep Medicine: Child Sleep Duration Health Advisory
- AAP HealthyChildren: Getting Your Baby to Sleep
- Sleep Foundation: Newborn Sleep Schedule
- NICHD Safe to Sleep®: Reduce the Risk of SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Causes of Infant Death
Stop keeping it in your head.
DadYolked keeps feeds, diapers, sleep, medicine, pumping, notes, and appointments in one local-first record — so the pattern is there before you need it, and the second caregiver sees the same story.
Quick answers
How many hours should my baby sleep in 24 hours?
For babies 4 to 12 months the published AASM recommendation, endorsed by the AAP, is 12 to 16 hours in a 24-hour period including naps. For 1 to 2 years it is 11 to 14 hours, and for 3 to 5 years it is 10 to 13 hours. For babies under 4 months the AASM does not publish a recommendation, because the data is limited and newborn sleep varies so widely; AAP HealthyChildren describes newborns as sleeping about 16 to 17 hours a day in 1- to 2-hour stretches, and Sleep Foundation puts the normal spread anywhere from 11 to 19 hours. This page's checker adds up the hours you enter and puts the total next to those published numbers. It does not decide whether your baby is sleeping enough.
Does the 24-hour sleep total checker diagnose anything?
No, and it is built not to. It adds up the night stretches and naps you type in and reports the total, how it splits between night and daytime sleep, and whether the total sits inside the published range for the age band you selected. A total outside that range is reported as a question for your care team, never as “too little” or “too much”, because a single day's total cannot tell you whether a baby is well. It does not assess development, does not recommend sleep training, and cannot tell you why a baby is waking. Individual sleep needs vary, and your pediatrician is the person who can interpret your baby's pattern.
Does anything I type get saved or uploaded?
No. The checker runs entirely in your browser tab. Nothing is saved, submitted, or uploaded, there is no account, and refreshing or closing the tab clears every entry. That is deliberate: a record of when your household was awake and who was holding the baby is not something that should leave the house by accident. To keep a permanent record, print the sheet or log it in DadYolked.
Which sleep tools should I start with?
Start with the question you are actually holding. Sleep tracker for dads if you do not yet have a record. Wake window calculator if you need the next nap window. This checker if you want to know whether the hours add up. 4-month sleep regression for dads if the wakings have become the problem. Night shift schedule if the issue is who is awake. Newborn schedule if you want the whole day in one shape. None of them replace your pediatrician.
Published by DadYolked · Updated September 17, 2026 · Editorial standards and corrections · Warm, dry, and back down · Baby fever: when to call
· Corrected age calculator for preemies